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Viewpoint: Feral cats a threat to humans and wildlife

Escambia County has a feral cat problem that will get worse if the proposed ‘solution’ is implemented.

The Board of County Commissioners is currently considering implementing a county-wide Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) policy that would maintain colonies of feral cats in neighborhoods and communities throughout the county. Although we all agree that management of feral cats is necessary, TNR programs do not serve the best interests of the community and instead jeopardize public health, sacrifice wildlife, create a nuisance for property owners, and simply do not work to reduce feral cat populations.

TNR programs establish and maintain colonies of feral cats by feeding them at designated locations. By sustaining these colonies, TNR programs seriously risk the health of the community around them. Cats are the number one carrier of rabies among domestic animals, and the Florida Department of Health (FLDOH) opposes TNR, stating that it is “not tenable on public health grounds because of the persistent threat posed to communities from injury and disease.” According to the FLDOH, “children are among the highest risk for disease transmission from these cats.” Even when TNR programs include a rabies vaccination, they do not re-trap individual cats to provide the necessary booster vaccinations to guarantee public safety. Furthermore, cats may spread other pathogens that can present both a risk to human health and the reputation of a tourist destination. Toxoplasmosis, for example, is caused by a parasite that relies on cats to complete its life cycle and is excreted into the environment in cat feces. Infection with this cat-spread parasite can lead to miscarriages, blindness, memory loss, and even death. A neighborhood or beach surrounded by cat colonies is a sure risk.

Local wildlife are another victim of TNR programs and their feral cat colonies. Cats are instinctively prodigious, non-native hunters – much like pythons in the Everglades – that have repeatedly been shown to kill wildlife regardless of hunger. An estimated 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion small mammals are killed by cats every year in the U.S. TNR programs facilitate this predation by maintaining cats on the landscape. Due to the adverse impacts on wildlife, numerous conservation organizations, including the Panama City Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have advised the Board of County Commissioners against implementing TNR.

When considering whether or not to support TNR, ask yourself if you want a colony of feral cats on your property or on your neighbor’s property. Cats do not recognize property boundaries, and landowners adjacent to these unconfined colonies report being overrun by cats. Not only do feral cats and their colonies create an eyesore, they cause damage and present serious risks such as attracting skunks or rats that eat the food put out for cats. They also attracting coyotes who see the cats as potential prey. County endorsement of TNR would make it harder for private property owners to resolve their concerns about unwanted cats and unfairly sets the burden to keep cats out on the aggrieved resident rather than the offending colony.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, TNR simply does not work to reduce feral cat populations. Numerous scientific studies have shown that, rather than disappearing, colonies persist for years and may actually lead to increases in the numbers of cats. These increases result from a failure to spay/neuter a sufficient proportion of cats (as high as 94% required), a lack of territoriality by spayed/neutered colony cats, the attraction of individuals to food supplied to colonies, and the reputations of colonies as a convenient place to dump unwanted pets. TNR is insufficient to effectively reduce feral cat populations.

I applaud the Board of County Commissioners for its desire to effectively manage feral cats in the county, but TNR is not the answer. According to a study led by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, TNR programs “generate support and enthusiasm from many animal welfare advocates, yet these managed feral cat ‘colonies’ are not innocuous. Feral cats can cause considerable mortality to local wildlife, act as reservoirs for feline-specific diseases, and transmit zoonotic diseases to humans. Additionally, claims by TNR advocates that managed colonies can reduce feral cat populations…are contradicted by research.”

It is my hope that the Board of County Commissioners will consider the many negative consequences of TNR and select a more effective path forward that will simultaneously benefit the county’s cats, wildlife, and people.